Couples left in legal limbo by the licence that lapsed

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NEARLY 200 couples are awaiting the result of a High Court case to discover whether their marriages are legal after a council forgot to renew the licence for the register office where they tied the knot.

The couples all married at Langtons House register office in Hornchurch, Essex, between October 2004 and the end of March 2005. But Havering borough council wrote to them in April 2005 noting that the premises had not been licensed for marriages during that time because it had forgot to apply for a renewal.